Iv always kinda wanted one of these, I know some likem, others don't. LGS got one in says used but don't look fired. Think they asking $849.00 is that about right,? The bad is I don't have any ammo for one!

No thoughts good or bad on these?

Great revolvers and a great snake gun with the .410 shells.
I use # 9 shot skeet loads in mine for snakes and 45 Colt for hogs.
That price is about what a new one used to retail for when they first became available.
I haven’t priced them in today’s gun crazy market, though.
You can also shoot 45 acp ammo with moon clips. And you can also fire 45 GAP ammo in them too.

Sounds a bit high in price, check around.

$750 -8 seems more on the mark. I'd shop my ass off & find one for $700.

45 ACP , 45 Colt, or 410 . Surely could find one of 3. But my use would be snake gun & 2.5" fine shot 410's are hard to find & through the roof in price.

Yep. I think I paid $750 for mine brand new when they first come out.

Like I mentioned before, you can also shoot .45 GAP ammo in them. Of course, some here may not know what that is, though.

Ole EthanEdwards on here, who recently passed away, was a big fan of the S&W Governor. Had a few great conversations with him about them. I miss his posts. He was a good guy.

Lol. You should check out the S&W forum for “thoughts good and bad” on them. Funny. End of the day it’s just a gun, and it either serves your purposes or does not. Never seen people get so overly opinionated on such a stupid topic as these. Myself? I have shot my pal’s Gov a bit and found it kinda interesting and ‘versatile’, albeit ugly as sin and oddly unwieldy. But to each their own. I don’t think that price sounds bad at all in this market. And was likely the MSRP when introduced.

Yes I also miss his posts too! I had a Judge at one time it was ok. I do like the fact that you can use different 45 ammo in them plus the 410 shells. The one I handled seemed smaller then a judge, felt good in my hand. I know they would come down some on it, iv not seen any to know what there going for. Is S&W still making them? Thanks for the input guys!

I had a Judge before, also. I gave it to one of my nephews when I got my Governor.
The Governor is a much better Revolver in all respects, IMO.

One thing the Gov & Judge seem to have done is shift attention into the development of defensive .410 loads. All kinds of crazy shcitt now available in that, if you hadn’t been looking. Discs. 00’s. Combos. Some of it would appear to be very mean stuff, but I’m not well versed in much of it. Still, it was all made to fit a demand and niche which must then be present.

a rural cousin’s first handgun was a similar taurus judge. he is a big guy and mostly conceal carries it everywhere, including church, loaded with 45lc. he likes it alot. i have a bond arms derringer with several barrels, 410 is neither my least nor most favorite round.

my suggestion is to get a ruger blackhawk convertible single action revolver in 45lc/acp, which i also have. it’s built like a brick outhouse so used ones are generally good price/condition values. for most uses 45acp works well at a lower cost to practice.

If I spent much time where I was going to find a lot of venomous snakes,
I would buy one. Actually seek one out.

Otherwise, my impression is very negative.
Not to say it's junk. I reserve that for things that dont work or break.
Just that other things appeal more, and it's not even attractive.


And as a defensive round, there's is a lot of noise, smoke, and mirrors.
Not too much else. Never forget, ammo companies are not in the
business of providing you with great products. They are in business to
sell products. Some products are great. Some, made to sell.

Our Gov is the most carried revolver on our property. It is snake medicine extraordinary. Both the wife and I have a serious hate for water snakes and they can pop up anytime along the edges of our lake. Am guessing it would work equally as well on mean stray dogs if it ever came to that. Happy to admit I paid $599 at Buds about 6 years ago.

I handled one at the local gun store a year or two ago, and was very impressed with the feel of quality. I was tempted, but ultimately couldn't think of a legitimate role for it in my particular case, although if you live on a farm, I'd think they'd be quite useful.

I buy a lot of guns for cool factor alone (despite not being able to think up legitimate roles for them), but those are usually some sort of classic, either real or reproduction.

PS I thought the shallow rifling it them was cool feature, because it's designed to be adequate for stabilizing bullets, but at the same time, it shouldn't disrupt shot patterns as badly as standard handgun rifling.

^^^^^^Nailed it^^^^^^^

I've been using one for several years and it's well made. It has decent accuracy with 45 ACP but I haven't tested it for groups....that really isn't what I got it for. I've never shot 45 LC in it. I've put a lot of .410 shot shells through it. It's killed several copperheads and rattlesnakes, but mainly it's for rats while I'm bushhogging. It makes me look forward to bushhogging.....it's a pasture safari!

LOL. Sounds like a blast.

I may go back about Tuesday or Wednesday and look at it better, see what the bottom price would be. Looking at what I may have to trade for it also. Will they shoot the 3" 410 shells????

No. They won’t shoot the 3” 410 shells.

I think The Taurus Judge does. But the quality on those is hit or miss.

I wish they were legal in Canada. I'd be tempted to try one. Just because.

Barrel length issue?

I just got around to getting over there, they now have two governor's the one I had saw before has a laser site in the grip the other one they have is virtually new with the box and paperwork he said he could let me have it for $750 I think I'm going to go back tomorrow and maybe swap something toward it for it. Thanks for the info!

Gimmick, and ugly to boot.

Judges were at least available chambered for 3" 410 shells, only with three inch and longer barrels as I recall. The smallest model was the Public Defender which would only accept the shorter 410 shells.

I owned a stainless Public Defender for a few months; it was one of those deals where the price was so good you can't walk away. It ran and shot fine and actually had a decent single and double action trigger pull and excellent sights, for its purpose. I don't really like stainless guns so it was easy for me to turn loose of. But it made me understand the drag to these guns and I wouldn't cry if a Governor fell in my lap on a gun trade.

Total f-ing joke made for really, really stupid people. That pretty much sums up my thoughts on it.

From your location, you don't have enough venomous snakes to worry about, so no reason to get one.

I like the Governor. Lots of fun, well made, and quite useful against venomous snakes.

I went and brought it home the other day, got a box of 45 acp with it. I think I'm going to like it. Be a good knocking around gun. Plan on moving south in a few years anyway.

Cool. I hope you get good use of it, and that you will do a review of it, with pictures.

Most that know me will say that I'm not Stupid, just like to try different guns, from time to time!, I did like the Judge I had, but would have liked it more if it shot 45acp this one will! It came with 2 ,6 round moon clips, the info says they make 2,3,4, and five round clips so you can load different shells, sposed to be 2, two round clips but they were not in the box. So would like to get a few, I'll call S&W tomorrow.

Yeah, mine came with a few of the 2 round ACP clips. I'm usually running all cylinders on 410 bird shot for rats and snakes and will throw a few of the 2 clips of acp in my pocket. Quickly swapping a couple out worked well on a groundhog I wanted to shoot instead of "shot" a few years back while bushhogging.

I called S&W today, and ordered some of the 2 shot clips and a couple of the 6 round ones!